The Battle of the Somme

The Battle of the SommeSeptember - November 1916

Module objective: Guided by both research and inquiry-based questions, students will explore historical and contemporary perspectives on the Battle of the Somme, using primary source evidence to understand the causes and consequences of the battle and make a judgement about whether it was a success or a failure.

Intended audience: Grades 10-12

Prior knowledge required: : General background knowledge on the First World War, Second Battle of Ypres

​Interested in combining the Lest We Forget project with some activities from this module? Here are links to the service files of two soldiers whose individual stories connect with this module’s topic:

Problem overview

In the summer and fall of 1916 French, British, colonial and Dominion troops, including Canadians, attacked the German held front alongside the Somme River in the Picardy Region of France. The operation formed part of a general continental-wide offensive including Italian and Russian troops in southern and Eastern Europe joining the effort against the Central Powers. However, Germany struck first in February 1916, attacking the French Army at Verdun with the aim of inflicting losses so great that France would collapse. In consequence, French leaders asked Britain and her Dominions for immediate assistance. British leaders expressed concern that their forces were still growing in 1916 and unready for the task, but nevertheless answered the French call to shoulder more of the war effort by July 1916. Ever since, historians have disputed whether the Battle of the Somme was fought to win the war that year or to assist France by waging attrition warfare against Germany to pave the way for later victory. After the battle in December 1916 Germany offered peace terms under which they would keep much of their conquered territory in Belgium, northern France, and in Eastern Europe. The Allies refused.

​Was this an Allied attack to win the war or to avoid losing it? ​

Problem background

Where, Who and Why?

The Battle of the Somme remains the most iconic and controversial battle of the First World War, considered by some to be synonymous with failure, especially due to horrific British losses suffered on the first day of the assault on 1 July 1916. British and Dominion forces lost 57,470 men killed and wounded on that single worst day of loss in British history. 1st Battalion of the Newfoundland Regiment was among the units shattered on 1 July, loosing over 700 of their 800 members and forever linking that day to Canada’s history after the independent Dominion joined Confederation in 1949. The dramatic and tragic events of 1 July 1916 dominate histories of the Battle of the Somme, obscuring events that lasted through to November 1916.

1916 was also a desperate year for France. French Armies had shouldered most of the burden of war on the Western Front for nearly two full years. Large sections of her natural resource rich northern regions, including the great industrial city of Lille, remained in German hands as did most of Belgium. In February 1916 German forces opened a massive attrition battle at Verdun, aimed at “bleeding France white” to break French will to carry on the war. French leaders pleaded to British commanders to push the Somme Offensive start date ahead to 1 July to relieve pressure at Verdun.

By 1916, British and Dominion nations’ ground forces reached sufficient size to take over a larger part of the Western Front from the French. In 1916, the Canadian Corps grew to four full divisions numbering over 100,000 troops. Canada’s main contribution to the offensive began in September 1916 after the Canadian Corps transferred south from Ypres to the Somme sector in France. By then the Canadians, under British General Julian Byng, were experimenting with the latest British and French methods and modern weapon systems from light-machine guns and tanks, to airplanes and heavy artillery. These tools and methods were all employed during the September Battle for Flers-Courcelette, the first large scale Canadian offensive victory of the First World War. Tactics and systems later made famous at the Battle for Vimy Ridge in April 1917, such as the artillery creeping barrage, were fine-tuned on the Somme in September 1916.

As fighting continued through to October, wet fall weather reduced visibility thus limiting air observation and artillery effectiveness, resulting in costly fighting beyond Courcelette in Regina and Desire Trenches against German units transferred to the Somme from the Verdun area. Canadian attacks thus aided in relieving pressure on their French allies, but at a cost of 24,000 men killed, wounded, or captured when the offensive finally ended in November 1916.

Historical debates over the Battle of the Somme hinge on the question of which side suffered higher casualties in the world’s most famous battle of attrition. Some historians, including Winston Churchill, claimed that British and French losses were far higher than those on the German side, thereby proving the folly of Allied attrition strategy. Other accounts place German losses at slightly higher and more significant given the mounting strain on the Central Powers to continuing fighting the war on three fronts.

Key questions and debates

The two student activities in this module are designed to address the key questions and debates surrounding the topic, and are framed by the guideposts to historical thinking for each of the historical thinking concepts ​addressed in the module. Activities are intended to be completed in order. Please click below to see an activity overview, guiding questions, and additional topics/questions the teacher may introduce.

Students will take a position as an historical actor to respond to the question of whether the Somme was an unequivocal disaster.

Culminating activity/assessment

To demonstrate understanding, students will work in pairs to record video or podcast interviews with one another. Students will develop questions to pose to each other surrounding the issue of whether the Somme could be considered a success, and will respond to these questions and interviewer and interviewee. Students must use primary source documents as the basis for their responses.

Students demonstrating sophisticated thinking will be able to identify that there are a variety of perspectives on the Battle of the Somme among the nationalities explored in this activity. Students should also be able to articulate through this module their understanding that recognizing this diversity of perspectives is essential to understanding the past.